Patients are Far More Willing to Share their Sexual Orientation than Providers Think

​Patients are far more willing to disclose their sexual orientation than healthcare workers believe, according to an April 24, 2017, study in JAMA Internal Medicine. The study found that although nearly 80% of physicians assume patients would be unwilling to disclose their sexual orientation, just 10.3% of patients said they would refuse do so. The researchers conducted an online survey of 1,516 people (244 lesbian, 289 gay, 179 bisexual, and 804 straight) as well as 429 emergency department professionals. In all, 333 (77.8%) clinicians assumed that patients would refuse to provide their sexual orientation; just 154 (10.3%) patients said they would refuse to provide this information.